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"He who joyfully marches to music rank and file, has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action. It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder." Einstein

On average, one US soldier dies everyday. Not an enormous sum, unless it is your mother, father, son or daughter that has perished. Few Americans notice. Afghan loses are not reported.

ELEVEN YEARS LATER, we are still at war. Bullets, mortars and drones are still extracting payment. Thousands, tens of thousands, millions have paid in full. Children and even those yet to be born will continue to pay for decades to come.

On a single day in Iraq last week there were 29 bombing attacks in 19 cities, killing 111 civilians and wounding another 235. On Sept 9th, reports indicate 88 people were killed and another 270 injured in 30 attacks all across the country. Iraq continues in a seemingly endless death spiral into chaos. In his acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination for President, Obama claimed he ended the war in Iraq, well… not quite.

The city of Fallujah remains under siege. Not from US troops, but from a deluge of birth defects that have plagued families since the use of depleted uranium and white phosphorus by US forces in 2004. No government studies have provided a direct link to the use of these weapons because no government studies have been undertaken, and none are contemplated.

The ongoing peaceful protest against the military misuse of Shannon Airport continues on Sunday 9th September at 2pm.

With the threat of war against Iran still looming, there is a grave danger that Shannon and Ireland will be bullied or brainwashed into supporting another illegal invasion. The consequences of such a war would be catastrophic - just as they were for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Meanwhile August saw three US K35 mid-air refueling tankers land at Shannon, with another on September 1st. The airport is clearly being retained as a US military base, despite the fact that troop numbers are down in recent months.

Join us on Sunday 9th to demand an end to this misuse of our civilian airport.

Sympathy seems in short supply for Julian Assange, the Australian-born founder of WikiLeaks currently holed up in the Ecuadorean embassy in London.

Swedish authorities want to talk to Assange about allegations of sexual assault in Stockholm. He says he fears that, if he travels to Sweden, he might be extradited to the US on charges of espionage arising from WikiLeaks' publication of 250,000 classified diplomatic documents.

Assange's supporters insist the allegations are spurious. The robust feminist and anti-war campaigner Naomi Klein says: "Rape is being used in the Assange prosecution in the same way that women's freedom was used to invade Afghanistan. Wake up."

Whatever the truth of what happened in Stockholm, Assange's apprehensions about what might happen in the US are far from fanciful.

The head of the US Senate's intelligence oversight committee, California Democrat Dianne Feinstein, told the Sydney Morning Herald last weekend that, "I believe that Julian Assange has knowingly obtained and disseminated classified information which could cause injury to the United States ... He has caused serious harm to US national security and should be prosecuted accordingly."

In light of that, and given seemingly permanently heightened US anxieties about 'homeland security', Assange's nightmare glimpse of himself shuffling in a jump-suit in Guantanamo Bay can hardly be dismissed as an invented ploy for evading the Swedish police. So it's puzzling that few in the mainstream media seem concerned about his plight.

Assange's team worked for almost a year, with others, sifting through and annotating the leaked archive prior to launching publication in November 2010.

His partners were the New York Times, the Guardian, Le Monde, El Pais and Der Spiegel - publications held in the highest esteem, not least by themselves. (Hundreds of the leaked State Department cables have since been published in the Belfast Telegraph.)

Regular vigil to protest against the US military use of Shannon Airport and the failure to investigate and end rendition flights.

The vigil will take place from 2pm to 3pm on Sunday 10th June at the usual place - just before the airport entrance (gather at the small roundabout).

The US military continue to use Shannon Airport to move their troops to and from the failed occupation of Afghanistan. Ireland still supports the most militarized nation on earth, the US, and Shannon ferries weapons and troops (maybe even killer drones) to its warzones. If another war - like an ill conceived invasion of Iran - were to take place, Shannon and Ireland would almost certainly be involved. We need to continue our protests and to ensure this does not happen.

Shannon Vigil

Sunday, 13 May, 2012. 14:00 - 15:00

Regular monthly vigil to demonstrate against the US military use of Shannon Airport, and against the failure of the authorities to deal with its use in CIA renditions

Meet at small roundabout before airport entrance.

While the government moves Shannon Airport from the Dublin Airport Authority to a new semi-state body, it remains very silent about the constant movement of war planes through the airport. When they talk about passenger numbers they never refer to the quarter of a million armed foreign troops that are taken through each year. And when they talk about executive jet business and US pre-clearance, they never refer to the fact that many of these executive jets have been operating as rendition planes - in other words, their business is kidnapping and torture.

On Sunday March 11th at 2pm Shannonwatch / PANA and the Irish Anti-War Movement will gather at Shannon Airport to mark the 9th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.

We invite & urge all available anti-war / peace activists available to consider joining us to mark this anniversary with a significant demonstration.

PANA & the IAWM have hired a bus which is free for all who wish to take it (a donation would be appreciated and will be requested) to travel to Shannon from Dublin on March 11th. It leaves Heuston Station at 10.30am.

The size of the bus depends on the number that confirm they wish to come by emailing info@pana.ie at the earliest convenience.
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Shannonwatch Press Release:

Since Shannon was handed over to the American forces, over 2 million armed troops have passed through. Following 12 years of crippling sanctions, their presence in Iraq resulted in up to 1 million people dying and over 2 million refugees.
Shannon has also played a significant part in the occupation of Afghanistan over the last decade. There the results are equally appalling.

Not content with supporting the Afghan and Iraq wars, the Irish political elite have now given a clear signal that they will actively support the US/EU/Israeli war on Iran. By closing the Irish embassy there, they shut the door on dialogue. Shannon is continuing to operate as a US military hub, and if Iran is invaded it will almost certainly play a part.

This war must be stopped because if it goes ahead the consequences will be even worse than those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The demonstration at Shannon on March 11th will remember all those who have died in the wars that Shannon Airport has been part of. It will also call yet again on the Irish government to end the US military use of the airport.